What Does It Mean To Be Consistent

Consistency is key (they say).

It’s all about making sure you are showing up regularly and you are sharing your message with your crowd.

BUT, what does it really mean to be consistent?  Do you have to show up at the same place at the same time every single day?  Does it mean that you need to be doing things in a particular order all of the time?  Does it mean that everything has to happen to a schedule/routine every single week?

Does consistency mean BORING?

Does consistency end up giving you a whole stack of rules to REBEL AGAINST?

Does consistency stifle spontaneity & creativity?

Here’s my take on it….

YES, I agree that consistency is key.  Consistency sits hand in hand with patience.

I was at an event a couple of months ago and someone was sharing with me their frustrations insofar as Social Media was concerned.

But I showed up and posted every Friday in August on Linkedin and didn’t make a single sale.

Well, whilst there was a feeling of consistency there, there was a couple of things coming into play.  1) 4 posts on social media were simply not going to cut it in order to create/nurture and maintain relationships.  2) having it all happening on a particular day meant that if people weren’t around on that day then they were going to miss your posts 3) August is traditionally a very busy month for holidays and kids being off school in the UK (where this lady was based) and not all of her crowd would have been around.

Let’s answer some of the questions when it comes to consistency;

Does it mean you have to stick to a rigid routine? ~ NO, it’s very much dependant upon the type of person you are.  Some people thrive under a routine and knowing what they need to do and when.  Initially, when I first started out in business I did have a little bit of a routine with different days being allocated different types of tasks.  I then found that there was often times when I was working against my creativity.  I now work with an over-arching to do list for the week, I know the key tasks I want to get done and I work through them dependant upon how I feel ~ if I’m in the mood to write then I’ll write, if I’m in the mood to record video then that’s the task I’ll get ticked off.  Obviously there are some tasks that show up that I’d never be in the mood to do (i.e. my accounts) and I schedule those in with a diary appointment, treat myself like a toddler and give myself a reward for towing the line.

Does consistency mean you have to show up at the same time all the time?  ~ NO.  You don’t have to go to the gym at the same time all the time in order to get into a consistent habit of excercise.  On this one I think that there’s a place.  Consistency should not stifle spontaneity ~ sometimes it’s important to share what you wanna share and share it in real time with your audience.  Equally, it’s great for your audience to come to expect certain things at certain times.  I know that if I give myself a SUPER STRICT schedule of showing up on social media then I rebel against it and I find that I end up simply going through the motions to get something out there. The little mantra on this one is “less is more if more is shite.”  BUT, there’s something to be said for, what we call at Rockstar HQ, the Bake Off Effect.  There’s programmes that are on telly that people know about, they love them, they know when they are on and they grab a brew, settle down and tune in.  My view is that you can have some Bake Off Effects in your week (even if it’s just 1) and you can also have room for spontaneity. On a side note, I also think that if you take your favourite programme and put it on too often (we’ve seen this in the TV space before) then people get bored of it, it doesn’t have the same impact and in fact the content ends up watered down simply to fill space.

What is Consistency To Me?

It’s about being there for my crowd regularly.

It’s about them knowing that I’m around.

It’s about being present within my Social Media and posting strategy, within my email marketing and on my website.

It’s avoiding churn, it’s not about keeping posting the same old same old.

It’s about keeping things fresh and exciting so that people wanna continue to follow.

It is about regularity insofar as being there often but it doesn’t need to be strict.

The moment that is feels boring, that it feels like I’m going through the motions or it feels like I wanna rebel against consistency then I have to meet it, face to face, and work out what it is that’s actually keeping me stuck.  I grab my journal and ask myself “why am I resisting this right now.”  From there I’ll write my answer and continue to ask myself “why” until I get to the crux of the problem and an inspired solution.

What does consistency mean to you?